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Fact Book: Doing Business in Maine 2020

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V O L . X X V I N O. X V I 200 200 IDEAS FOR MAINE'S BICENTENNIAL 74 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine The Wabanaki opened the first land and water travel routes, Maine's first "super highway" system. The state-subsidized Maine ferry system is a vital link to Maine's island communities, running in nearly any weather. The ferries shuttle commuters, visitors and vehicles, including construction trucks and tractor trailers. They supply mail, food and necessi- ties. They help islands remain viable. 1 From 1913 to 1940, John D. Rockefeller Jr. financed construc- tion of 45 miles of carriage roads and bridges in Acadia National Park. Road crews quarried local granite for road material and bridge facing. In 1995, Friends of Acadia established an endowment to maintain the roads. Early-20th-century landscape architect Beatrix Farrand was commissioned to work on Acadia National Park carriage roads and John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s Seal Harbor estate. Established in 1971, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission has aided 1,150 projects to improve historic build- ings and administered the State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program, which has aided 40 rehabilitation projects through a 25% state credit for rehabilita- tions that also qualify for the 20% federal credit through the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program. The federal program added $19 million to Maine's gross domestic product in 2018. Municipal façade improvement grant pro- grams help generate new investment and revitalize downtowns. 2 The Maine Department of Transportation, established by the Maine Legislature in 1972, is responsible for nearly 18,000 lane miles of road and nearly 3,000 bridges and spans across the state. 3 The Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Wiscasset generated electricity from 1972–96. Two major business parks, Loring Com- merce Center and Brunswick Landing, were redeveloped from decommissioned military bases. Maine has deep-water ports in Portland, Searsport and Eastport. 4 At 447 feet tall, the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory is the world's tallest public bridge observa- tory. The observatory opened in 2007 and attracted 59,208 visitors in 2019. To combat the well-known traffic backup in Wiscasset, near Red's Eats, in 2000 U.S. Sen. Angus King, then governor, commis- sioned a study to look at the feasibility of building a tunnel. The Wiscasset Tunnel, as it was dubbed, would go under part of the downtown, and be cheaper than a by- pass, proponents said. The Piscataqua River Bridge opened in 1972, connecting new I-95 corridor between Maine and New Hampshire. P H O T O / K E V I N A . T RO S T L E , W I K I P E D I A P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y M A I N E D E PA R T M E N T O F T R A N S P O R TAT I O N F I L E P H O T O / N U C L E A R R E G U L AT O R Y C O M M I S S I O N P H O T O / B R U C E C . C O O P E R , W I K I P E D I A 2 1 3 4

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